Pattillo higgins



(No Model.)

P. HIGGINS.

I PEN CLEANING ATTACHMENT FOR INKSTANDS.

No. 582,127. Patented May 4,1897.

"Nu! W I goeglor PATTILLO HIGGINS, OF BEAUMONT, TEXAS, ASSIGNOR OF TWO-TIIIRDS TO SIDNEY A. LONG AND JAMES L. KEITH, OF SAME PLACE.

PEN-CLEANING ATTACHMENT FOR INKSTANDS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 582,127, dated May 4, 1897. Application filed April 18, 1896. Serial No. 588,111. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, PATTILLO HIGGINS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Beaumont, in the county of Jefferson and State of Texas, have invented a new and useful Pen- Cleaning Attachment for Inkstands, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in pen-cleaning attachments for inkstands and it has for its object to provide a cleaner of the character mentioned adapted for application to inkst-ands of different sizes and by the use of which the point of a pen will always be clean and any surplus ink remaining thereon after dipping into the stand effectually removed, whereby blotting will be prevented and neatness insured.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a perspective view of a cleaner constructed in accordance with the present invention and illustrated as applied to an inkstand, a portion of the inkstand being in section to show the disposition of the cleaner. Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional View of the inkstand 3 5 metal adapted to withstand the chemicals of the ink and is bent into a compressible split ring or any other desired shape, so as to conform to the mouth of an inkstand. At one edge of the body portion 1 an outwardly-extending cleaning-lip 2-.-is formed, said lip,

when the body portion is placed within the mouth of an inkstand, projecting above the edge of such mouth and forming an edge over which the pen may slide in order to free the same of any surplus ink and thus be cleaned.

In Figs. 2 and 4 a modification of the cleaner is illustrated. This consists simply of a body portion 3, which is adapted to be inserted within the mouth of an inkstand, similar to the body portion 1, and the upper edge of said body portion 3 projects beyond the edge of said mouth, and thereby presents a clean ing-surface similar to the lip 2, but extending around the entire mouth of the inkstand.

From the foregoing the advantages of my herein-described cleaner will be readily seen by those skilled in the art. To use the same, the body portion is inserted in the mouth of an inkstand, as shown in Fig. 1, and by reason of the spring nature of the material of which said body portion is formed it will be evident that the tendency of the same is to expand, and thus it will be securely held within the mouth. In the event that the mouth of the inkstand is of less diameterthan the cleaner, when the latter is in the position shown in Fig. l the ends of the body portion may be overlapped, thereby providing for smaller sizes and permitting the cleaner to be applied thereto. When a pen is dipped into the ink and withdrawn therefrom, the point of the same is passed over the cleaning-lip 2 or the edge of the body portion 3, which projects above the edge of the mouth of the inkstand. This will remove any surplus ink thereon and will always render such pen clean and free from the hardened ink which ordinarily accumulates on the point. From the fact that all surplus ink is removed from the penpoint, dropping of such therefrom will be prevented and iieat writing insured. When the pen is drawn over the cleaning-edge, the ink will immediatelypass down the body portion and back into the stand, and it will therefore be seen that a great saving of the ink is accomplished, all gumming of the latter upon the mouth of the inkstand being prevented, and permitting the same to remain clean.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new, and desired to be secured by Letters Patent, is

A pen-cleaning attachment for ink-wells, comprising an annular expansible body portion of spring metal adapted to be fitted in the mouth of an ink-well and provided, in the plane of the body portion, with an upwardly-extending lip which projects above the edge of the mouth of the ink-well, whereby a pen may be drawn thereover as it is removed from the ink-well, substantially as specified.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

' PATTILLO HIGGINS. Witnesses:

NETTIE GRAY,

LORENZO BOYKINS. 

